So Canada may not have bagged the number-one spot but it placed sixth in the United Nations' latest ranking of happiest countries. The well-being report measures such factors as life expectancy and corruption to determine the overall happiness of a nation's citizens.
Again, the Netherlands hogged the top spots, with Switzerland jumping into the top five this year. According to an article in the Globe and Mail, Denmark ranked supreme, followed by Norway.
In the five years since the UN last published its report, well-being is on the up, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, typically trouble spots.
"Life is getting better in unsung ways in many places—enough so that the world is slowly becoming a happier place," said UBC professor of economics and co-author of paper on global happiness, John Helliwell.
Six factors were used to grade the overall well-being of 130 countries: "per capita GDP, life expectancy, having someone to count on, freedom to make life choices, generosity and freedom from corruption."
The improvements reflected in 60 of the studied countries were credited with governments and policy-makers taking a more direct interest in the well-being of their citizens.
Though the happiness factor has plummeted in the U.S. and many industrialized countries, it has stayed more or less the same in Canada. Something to be proud of...
What do you think makes Canadians such a happy bunch? Spill it.
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